Spotify creates a new section for gaming music

Video game developers spend an awful lot of time these days coming up with a great soundtrack for their games. As a result, some of the best music coming out these days is actually from video games. Spotify seems to understand this, which is why the company has created a new section dedicated to gaming music.

Here, you will find original soundtracks from video games, as well as curated playlists. The playlists also include non-video game music for different moods and genres.

The new section is a good idea as it will introduce a lot of people who are otherwise not into gaming to all the great music coming out of video games these days and bring more attention to video game music in general.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Olympic Games Edition up for pre-order, costs €879

Just a day after it was made official, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Olympic Games Limited Edition has been made available to pre-order in Germany. The South Korean company has the device listed on its official website and is charging €879.

Unlike the standard Galaxy S7 edge, the Olympic Edition unit will come in a textured limited edition box, with an individual identification number (like GER-0001, or GER-0002 ..., or GER-2016) embedded on it.

Only 2,016 units are up for grabs. So if you're planning to pre-order one, you might have to act really fast. Shipments begin July 18, which is the official launch day. Aside from Germany, the device will also be available in the US, Brazil, China, and South Korea.

Source | Via

NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 1060 for $249

NVIDIA has announced the successor to the GTX 960 of last year and the latest in the new 10-series, the GeForce GTX 1060. This will be NVIDIA's latest bang-for-the-buck card and will compete with AMD's recently announced RX 480 in the mainstream segment.

The GTX 1060 is NVIDIA's latest graphics card to be based on the company's current generation Pascal architecture. The card claims to offer up to 3x the performance of its predecessor, the GTX 960, but that's mostly in VR, although NVIDIA still claims roughly 2x improvement in standard 2D gaming in titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider (DX12), The Witcher 3, and Overwatch.

The 1060 has 1280 CUDA cores with a base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1708 MHz. You get 6GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 8Gbps, 192-bit memory bus width and 192 GB/s memory bandwidth. In comparison, the RX 480 ships in 4GB and 8GB configurations.

Connectivity wise you get DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, and Dual Link-DVI with maximum supported resolution of 8K at 60Hz. TDP is 120W and the card takes its power from a 6-pin connector.

The 1060 has full support for NVIDIA features such as simultaneous multi-projection, Ansel, G-Sync, GPU Boost 3.0, and GameStream but there is no SLI support.

The 1060 will be available in two variants. There will be the standard OEM variant, which will come in many shapes and forms, and then the Founders Edition, which will be available directly from NVIDIA and feature the NVIDIA reference design and cooler.

The prices for the 1060 start at $249 for the OEM variant and $299 for the Founders Edition.

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Meizu MX6 hits AnTuTu, launch confirmed for July 19

The Meizu MX6 has been long in our rumor section and the interest towards the upcoming phablet is growing by the day. Since the Pro 6 broke pattern with a smaller screen and earlier release, we didn't know what to expect from the MX6.

The latest rumors shed some light though - it will be a 5.5" smartphone with a 1080p AMOLED screen, Helio X20 chipset, metal unibody, and Android Marshmallow with Flyme 5.2. Some reports suggested the MX6 will come with 4GB of RAM, but there will be a cheaper model with 3GB RAM and halved storage (16GB).

Today the Meizu MX6 popped on AnTuTu and spilled the beans on its specs yet again. The databse entry confirms the screen resolution and Helio X20 chipset (Dual-core 2.3 GHz Cortex-A72 & quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Mali-T880MP4 GPU) with 4GB RAM. The chip is a downclocked version of the Helio X25 behind the Meizu Pro 6.

The bigger screen and thus body should allow Meizu to fit a bigger battery, possibly a 4,000 mAh unit.

What's new is the camera setup - as it turns out it differs from all previous rumors for a 20.7MP + 8MP snappers and instead the MX6 should be packing a 12MP main camera and a 5MP selfie shooter.

Another report confirms the official announcement date - July 19. The premiere will happen in the National Convention Center in Beijing. You can clearly see the confirmation on the invitation below.

It seems we are 11 days from the Meizu MX6 premiere and we'll know all the details soon enough. And if you are wondering about the pricing, you should prepare to shell out around $300.

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Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016) officially unveiled with Smart Glow notifications

After being spotted on benchmarks and the FCC's website as well as leaking in renders, the Samsung Galaxy J2 (2016) has finally gone official. The device is now listed on the South Korean company's India website.

Specs-wise, the Galaxy J2 (2016) is powered by a quad core 1.5GHz processor and sports a 5-inch HD display. It comes with 1.5GB RAM and 8GB expandable internal memory, and packs in a 2,600 mAh battery. The entry-level handset features an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front shooter.

Available in Gold, Black, and White color options, the Galaxy J2 (2016) measures 142.4 x 71.1 x 8.0mm and runs Android Marshmallow out-of-the box. The unique feature of the phone is a feature called Smart Glow that lets you color-code your contacts, apps and phone usage alerts so that you get more accurate notifications without even having to look at the screen.

The handset also features Turbo Speed Technology (TST) that is aimed at performance enhancement, which is achieved by "using the least amount of resources to complete a particular task in the fastest time." Samsung claims that with this tech, apps load up to 40% faster when compared to devices with double the RAM.

Aside from these features, the S Bike Mode is also there. As for price, the Galaxy J2 (2016) reportedly costs INR 9,750, which translates into around $145. It will be available for purchase in India starting next week.

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Lyft introduces ‘Premier’ rides. Roll to your destination in luxury and style

Today, ride-sharing app ‘Lyft’ is offering a new way to ride. To compete with the likes of Uber’s BLACK car service, which picks riders up in cars like a BMW 5-Series, Infiniti Q70, Audi’s A6 through A8, or Hyundai Genesis with other requirements that the car needs to have a black exterior and black interior.

Lyft is going to offer a similar option to its riders starting today and the company doesn’t require eligible cars to be black.

If you’re one of the many Lyft passengers who has told us you want a more stylish arrival for business trips and special nights out, we have a new ride option you’re going to love.

The Premier option is now available to riders in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and New York City. To celebrate the launch of Premier, Lyft is letting riders try the service with promo code: LYFTPREMIER20. This code will give you 20% off of 10 Premier rides. This promotion will discount up to $10 per ride and expires on the last day of July.

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Final Fantasy 7 Releases for Android Phones Today

Square Enix suddenly releases Final Fantasy 7 on Android devices, but this version of the popular game has a game-breaking bug that needs to be squashed.

iOS owners have been able to play Square Enix’s classic JRPG Final Fantasy VII for the past year, but Android users have been left out. That changes today, as Square Enix has launched Final Fantasy VIIworldwide for Android mobile devices, though the launch hasn’t gone as smoothly as the company may have hoped.

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy VII on Android is plagued by a pretty serious game-breaking bug involving the game’s vehicles. Depending on how close players are to various terrain when getting in or out of vehicles, it may become impossible for the vehicles to move again. Square Enix has yet to fix this issue, and recommends that players save often and use multiple save slots to avoid too much frustration.

Otherwise, it seems as though Final Fantasy VII on Android is the same game that veterans of the franchise know and love, with some enhancements. For example, players are able to use cheats like turning off random battles and maxing out stats of the characters instantly. Returning players will also notice a visual upgrade, as the Android version is a slightly altered re-release of the HD Steam version of the game that launched a few years back.

Square Enix is likely re-releasing the enhanced version ofFinal Fantasy VII on so many platforms not only to bank on nostalgia, but also to help promote Final Fantasy VII Remake. By keeping the original game fresh in the minds of gamers, it could help generate additional interest in the upcoming remake.

It could also work the other way as well, with hype for the remake making fans eager to buy the game again on other platforms. And if enough gamers purchase the Android versions of Final Fantasy VII, it may convince Square Enix to bring the enhanced versions of other Final Fantasy games to the platform as well, such as Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy IX is already on Android, and Final Fantasy VII‘s release today means that Final Fantasy VIII is the only PS1-era Final Fantasy game yet to hit the platform. If Final Fantasy VII and IX on Android both have strong sales, perhaps Square Enix will be convinced to finally bring Final Fantasy VIII to mobile. While fans wait for news on that front, they’re free to enjoy the other Final Fantasygames already available for smartphones and tablets.

Final Fantasy VII is available on PC, PS1, PS4, in addition to Android and iOS mobile devices.

Source: GameSpot